A rotary closure of the type in which the invention is employed is disclosed in European application EP-A-255 869. In this known rotary closure the closure flaps of a shoe can be drawn together or loosened by a rotary movement of the actuating mechanism in one or the other direction so that the effective length of two traction cable tensioning elements is altered in opposite ways. In this case, in order to be able to adapt the shoe accurately to the user's foot an accurate adjustment of the rotary closure is provided by including a ratchet mechanism in the region between a rotating knob and a cable pulley for the two traction cable tensioning elements. The ratchet mechanism contains an intermediate element which is rotatable with the rotating knob while maintaining free play, a ratchet borne on the intermediate element and a toothed ring machined in a housing cover. The cable pulley is rotated by the rotating knob with the interposition of a Maltese cross transmission, a gear drive or a planetary gear.